NWA - Macclesfield Forest ~ 26/11/11 - AFTERMATH

Aiming to be back at our start point by 3:30pm at the latest.

Gives us 5 hours to ride and faff and then faff some more. We'll probably lose half an hour at the start as Pete is always late.
 
drystonepaul":1qpd02rq said:
Aiming to be back at our start point by 3:30pm at the latest.

Gives us 5 hours to ride and faff and then faff some more. We'll probably lose half an hour at the start as Pete is always late.

I'm trying to feel offended but somehow don't have a leg to stand on... :oops: :cry:

Afraid the new rack isn't going to be in effect in time, so it's a case of squeezing bikes inside if anyone's car-sharing (MrLee...)? :? Not a problem but given how far it isn't I'm guessing it ain't worth the faff! UnlessMrsLee wants the car of course ;)
 
AFTERMATH:

Sadly I had to miss this ride today due to a trapped nerve in my neck.
But I did make it to the start point to meet up with, and apologise to, my fellow riders.

Woody was of course bang on time with his old faithful 1993 Stumpjumper.
MrLee and elPedro666 rolled up later but still more or less on schedule in Pete's passion wagon.

With the bikes unloaded and assembled, Lee discovered a stripped thread on the nutted front axles of his mid 80s Dawes. A quick journey back to my bike storage facility resolved the situation with a selection of appropriate replacement bolts.

By this point Pete still hadn't changed nor was he remotely ready to ride. He sloped off somewhere to block up a toilet and returned 20 minutes later, still in jeans and a hoody but perhaps a stone or two lighter.

So an hour and a quarter later than expected, I waved off a happy trio of retrobikers into the cold beyond, and then went home for a bacon bagel, some freshly ground coffee and some more co-codamol.

I'm sure they'll have plenty add when they return...
 
Bikes washed ready for a slog around maccleshire, well its 9.40am and still no elpeter "I will be at yours for 9" he said in text but if you know pete I think he meant 10am, arrived at the start just after 10.30am and started to put the old boy together "ARGH" I swore "it wont tighten up" its over before its begun, my front wheelnut has spun its 25year old threads
but dsp has 4 tons of old bike nuts and fittings in storage so off he went to try and salvage my day out, I thank you Paul for keeping these worthless parts in storage without them I would of had to down grade to elpetes spare mavic/hope wheel. THANKYOU.

Anyway faffing over wheres elpete gone? visiting the local dumpery,,,,, eventualy we re-group and say goodbye to our leader drystonepike (sorry had too) we eventually set off , with myself and pete trying to pursuade woody to got to the pub instead but it didnt work, with a climb out of macc forest we soon hit a climb up charity lane which turns into some sweet decsent into forest chapel and another swift descent we hit the killer climb up to the cat n fiddle, with some very strong tail winds we soon arrive at the coldest pub in england even with the logburner oozing heat im still cold so chips and beer are orderd to stonch us up for the severe headwinds we know are waiting for us, we eventually set off ,,wow how strong is this now I shouted but I couldn't hear an answer as the wind was so intense.
With a quick descent we pick up the Leek road? and start a short climb to the start of our next descent a couple of miles of rugged drovers road, it started pretty smooth swapping sides keeping the line untill it turned into some extreme rocky blur, holding on for dear life and with a rear end kicking out like a mule it made the climbing so worth it, after a good 10 mins of desceding we hit the road home back to forest chapel and then macc forest with another quick climb to the top and a stunning veiw of maccleshire and cheshire.
Last descent boys whos going first ,,, "you" woody says "mmm ok" so off we go,, what a cracking downhill down the through forest picking up a fire road near the end "right no brakes allowed" pete shouts, wow I must be doing 35 mph on gravel, I know a repack slide round the last corner, so I got into position and donned the rear brake it fired me sideways I chicken'd out and reset my line for the corner which I was going way too fast for but because of the racing pedigree I was riding it surprised me and clung to the trail, happy times.

With the cars in sight and a lot of giggles we come to the end of another cracking macc ride, its a shame you couldn't join us paul and I hope your better for the next one.
I did take a couple of pics but woody was the team camera man for the day cheers chris and cheers pete for the lift and the banter,
Lee.
 
Might have yourself a job there Lee, doing the write-ups ;)

It's true we (me in particular) were off to a less than flying start due to various 'I should be in bed' 'I'd have piked if you weren't picking me up' 'I'd have picked if I wasn't picking you up' weaknesses of resolve in the face of brutal man-flu, sleepless nights of hacking up chunks of flem the size of dsp's car and some entirely unhealthy bowel movements (which you'll note I was too polite to befoul MrLee's abode with).

But we all knew there was no way out, although I think eventually we dampened Woody's enthusiasm enough that he at least dropped the t-word :eek: :shock: :x

This was very much a ride of the 'to the top and back, repeat' variety with long climbs in some shocking winds rewarded with stunning views and absolutely corking descents of loose stone, gravel and rock steps leading seemingly endlessly down into beautiful valleys, not at all diminished in the murky greyness. A good epic feel in places too, with the gale whipping across the tops pushing us around like rag dolls and stealing the breath from already over-worked lungs.

More grinning than I've done a ride in a while I think and there were lots of trails we spotted on the way round that demand a return run soon too :cool:

Special mention has to go to heroic/ill-considered gear options on Lee's Dawes Nomates, with the gargantuan options of 32/42/52 and 12-26. 32x26 really isn't what you want strugging up to the second highest pub in the country into a 60mph headwind! :shock: :LOL:

Great fun all round thanks to Paul for organising and seeing us off, Woody for pics (I'm sure they're coming) and leading and Lee for directions and keeping me amused with the most wayward back wheel I've followed in a while! :LOL:
 
Woody's unofficial write up!

Well the day started off with a phone call from the Drystonekid saying that he was unable to attend today's ride to due to a trapped nerve in his shoulder! Obviously i was very sympathetic and told him to just man up and just get out there ,ha ! He wouldn't listen though , i told him you'll only end up spending money sat at home on retrobike in the for sale section! (I was right about this seeing his purchases later). I'll give him his due though he did come up to meet us and send us on our way!

So it was left to me to take the remaining butch, tough guys of mrlee and elPedro666 round the delights of Macc forest. A start time of 10am / 10.30am was the aim but pete and his bodily movements had a later start time in mind (see pic below)

Finally we managed to leave the cars ,give DrystonePIKE a wave and get on our way. Pete and Lee have done a few of the trails before so they knew they were in for a few climbs. What we weren't prepared for was the wind ! It did help us on a few sections but others were tough going. Mrlee and his Dawes Nomad with high gearing seemed to be on a mission all of the ride though. He was first up every climb and the fastest on every downhill. We all had a great time , lots of smiles and woop woop's after the downhills. Hope to do it all again soon.

A few photo's of the days event !

m1-2.jpg

elPedro666's 10.30 means 12 !
m4-2.jpg

Drystonepike in real pain !
m2-4.jpg

m3-2.jpg

Me rush ....no chance ,ha !
m6.jpg

mrlee and the nomad doing about 40mph, still had time to smile for the camera too!
m7.jpg

Struggling to stand , struggling to ride ....damn that winds strong today !
m8-1.jpg

m10.jpg

m9.jpg

m11.jpg

Todays line up , Spesh M2 , Ibis , Dawes Nomad with wheelnut pinched from paul

Cheers guys , it was another great retrobike ride triumph :cool:
 
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